Stopper pull



Jan. 15, 1952 J. oFTl-:DAHL

STOPPER PULL Filed oct. so. 1948 Patented Jan. 15, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT F F ICE;

` s'roPPER PULL John ofteaaht Annuals.` 1u.'

Application octuber'so, ,1948,seria11Nm 57,46%

1 This invention relates to animprovement inl stopper pulls, that is tofsay, to anarrangement for facilitating thewithdrawal of av cork (or like) stopper-.from themouth of aI bottle or the like.

Bottle'stoppers made of cork are a most effective closure forl bottles but they can be with drawn: only with great diiculty', and usually insuch damagedA condition that reuse value of the stopperv is seriously impaired, especially when the` stopper is initially pressed into theV bottle" so( as' tol leavev no projecting portion which may be ei'ectively gripped. It is, of course, very gen.- erally desirablethat withdrawal of the stopper from a bottle or the like be effected in such" manner that the stoppery may be reinserted after the requiredl amount of'material has been poured out of' the bottle or otherwise withdrawn there from; Of" course; fori reuse, thek stopper should be intact and uninjured incident to the withd'rawalor prying of the stopper out ofthe bottle. The principal object. of thepresent invention i'stoprovide an effective means whereby a stopper of cork or similar material may be easily withdrawn from the mouth of a bottle, even though the'stopperis inserted into the bottle mouth to such an extent that the stopper cannot be di'- rectly gripped., for withdrawal purposes.` Another object of the invention is to. provide a. stopper pull of the character indicated which maybe easily applied to Stoppers of cork and.

similar materials, and which may be applied at.

very low cost, so as to avoid'v unduly increasing the` costofstoppers equipped with the improved pulll Other objects and advantages of the.. invention. will bev understood by reference to the fol-- lowing specification and accompanying drawing (l sheet) inwhich several selected embodiments of the invention are shown.

In thev drawing:

Fig. 1 is an axial section through the, mouth end: of a bottle. orl similar container equipped withv a stopper having a pull embodying one form of the invention,

Fig; 2 is a plan of the'structure shown in Fig. 1, and

Figs; 3, 4', and 5 are sideA elevations of Stopp-ers embodying various modications of pulls according to the invention.

' In Figs. 1 and 2 oi" the drawing, the mouth portion of a glass bottle or similar container is. indicated` at IV and ay stopper 2A of cork or similar material is shownseated' in the mouth of the bottle.. -The inside ofv the. mouth of the bottle.

2' Claims.. (CL 215--55:)

tapers slightly fromf its outer.` end toward; the im sdexof the bottle in. accordance) with conventional; practice, and stopper 2, being of corkiorsimilar material, is under'compression and conforms to the insidewall of the bottle mouth so: as; toi fric-- tionally` hold the cork tightly in placel in thee bottle mouth.

As shown in Fig. 1, the: outer end 3 of the: stopper is flush with theil outer end 4 of: thee bottle mouth sothat, in the absence of: the pro--2 vision of a pull suchaswill presently be described; thestopper couldbe' withdrawn only by* the'- use of a corkscrew.; or by means of'someprying in.-7 strument, the use of' either ofi which definitely tends to damage thefstopper so as" to impairl its utility for reuse'.

To facilitate withdrawl of the stopper 2, a. pull 5 is provided, the-pull consisting ora length of compressible, fibrous material; and.y preferably of a length of so-called chenile` wire. Chenile; wire usually comprises two small diameter wires twisted together' with textile material such as short threads anchored between the wire. such manner as to form a textiler covering for the twisted wires. This chenile wire is: typiiied' by common cleaners for the stems of tobacco pipes.

In the arrangement shown in Fig; 1`, a length of' chenile wire is` folded upon itslf` so'as to provide legs 6f and I disposed side by`v side. These legs 6' and 'i areV inserted into the stopper`- either manually or-by means of* machinery; and" adhesively anchored to the stopper.

To facilitate insertion of the legs E and T of the pull, a suitable needle may rst beinserted into the stopperA to open up a passageway forv the legs 6 and T, after which the legs can be worked into the` stopper. The legs may be pre liminarily coated with suitable adhesive, or better, the passageway may be formed by meansof a hollow needle, likev a hypo'dermi'c needle, through which adhesive may be injected into the passageway as' the needlev is withdrawn, after which the legs ofA the pull may be worked into the adhesive-containing passageway.

By' employing a longitudlnally-grooved hollow needle, the needle and the legs of the pull may' be simultaneously inserted, and'` the needle alone withdrawn, leaving the legs ofthe pull' in placey in the stopper. The desiredv adhesive may, offcourse, be injectedt through the hollow of the needle; Byl suitable means, a shot of adhesivel` may be introduced into the passageway formed by the needle as the needle is being inserted into they stopper, after the needle hasy been inserted to its full depth and while it remains Vso inserted, or, if preferred, this adhesive application may be effected during withdrawal of the needle.

The adhesive, upon setting and drying, will effectively bond the textile-covered wires to the stopper so as to permit removal of the stopper through the agency of the pull and Without withdrawing the pull from the stopper. The adhesive probably tends to improve the anchorage of the fibers of the pull to the wire thereof when chenile wire is employed, and the effectiveness of the anchorage of the pull to the stopper may be due, in part, to attachment of both ends of the multiplicity of fibers of the pull to the stopper.

It appears that the textile cover material on lthe twisted wires enables the cement or glue toY effectively bond the pull to the stopper, whereas Y experiments have shown that plain wire cannot be effectively bonded to a-cork by the application of cement in the manner above indicated. Any suitable cement or glue may be employed, many being commercially available.

As indicated in Fig. 1, the portion of the pull which projects from the stopper may be opened into loop form to permit insertion of a. finger through the loop for pulling purposes, or the pull may be otherwise shaped as desired. For initial packaging purposes, the pull 5 may be folded down into at condition on the top of the stopper 3 as indicated in dotted lines at 8 in Fig. 2. As there indicated, the loop portion of the pull is closed on itself, and the closed loop folded down into fiat position on the top of the stopper.

When pulling force is applied to the stopper through the agency of a pull such as described, it appears that the stopper is initially slightly deformed as represented in dotted lines 9 and I0 at the top and bottom ends respectively of the stopper. The indicated deformation of the stopper seems to have the effect of slightly contracting the diameter of the stopper so that there is an eiiect of loosening the stopper in the bottle mouth as a step preliminary to the actual withdrawal of the stopper` from the bottle.

In Fig. 3 there is shown a modified form of pull in which a single strand II of chenile wire has. .one end-portion introduced into the stopper and cemented in place as above described. The inner end of the pull may be refolded on itself as indicated at I2 and this refolded portion hooked over the end of a suitable needle to facilitate insertion of the pull in `substantially `the manner above described in respect of the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The stopper I3, like the. stopper 2 is preferably of cork material, although other compressible materials may be substituted. Cork is referred to inasmuch as such material is the most practical, and is conventionally used for stopper purposes.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4, a length of chenile wire is shown doubled upon itself to pron Vide straight leg portions I4 and I5 and a small eye portion I6. The legs I4 and I5 are inserted in and bonded to the stopper I'I substantially as explained above in connection with the structure shown in Fig. 1. The provision of a small eye I6 is desirable for employment in connection with a.

rigid, hook-like instrument which may be engaged with the eye I6 for pulling the stopper. This small eye arrangement may advantageously be employed in connection with a suitable hook fastened securely to a wall or table or the like.

In Fig. 5 a length of pull material I3 is shown formed into inverted U-shaped form with its two legs I9 and 20 separately inserted and bonded to the stopper 2|. This arrangement is especially desirable in connection with larger Stoppers, although it is not necessarily confined to that use.

In each of the described arrangements, a simple length of suitable flexible cordage of textile or other material may be substituted for the chenile Wire. The employment of material of a fibrous nature, and its insertion into the stopper as illustrated, provides adequate and eifective pull surface to which the adhesive may attach itself while also attaching itself to the material of the stopper so as to effectively bond the pull and stopper together.

The chenile wire material does not necessarily produce any stronger bond than cordage of equivalent outside diameter, but it offers some advantages in respect of handling of the pull material and its insertion into the stopper. Hence, such chenile wire is presently preferred for the indicated purpose, although it is not essential tothe practice of the invention.

The described stopper pull arrangement facilitates the employment of smaller Stoppers, in respect of both diameter and length, in many applications and thus brings about a saving in respect of the cost of stopper material employed which more or less offsets the cost of the pull material and its attachment to the stopper. In many cases, a shortened stopper may be employed so that when inserted in a bottle mouth, the outer end of the stopper is flush with the outer end of the bottle mouth. In addition to reducing the required amount of stopper material, this flushend arrangement facilitates the application of additional sealing covers or coatings and reduces the overall length of the stoppered bottles so that smaller and hence less costly cartons or packing containers may be employed.

Various other advantages may be perceived, and other specific forms and applications of pulls may be used while employing the principles of the invention.

I claim:

l. A bottle stopper provided with a pull member, the stopper being a body of compressible material, and the pull member being a pair of wires twisted together with a filler of fibers squeezed between and projecting from opposite sides of said twisted wires along the length thereof, said berbearing twisted wire being doubled on itself and the two free end portions thereof being inserted into said body from one end thereof to points short of the other end thereof, said inserted portions of said pull member being resiliently gripped by and adhesively bonded to the stopper, the portion of said fiber-bearing wire which projects from said stopper body being formable into a loop in which the fiber material provides a cushion whereby the loop may be comfortably engaged with a finger for the purpose of pulling the stopper out of the mouth of a bottle.

2. A bottle stopper provided with a pull member, the stopper being a body of compressible material, and the pull member being a pair of wires twisted together with a filler of bers squeezed between and projecting from opposite sides of said twisted wiresalong the length thereof, said fiber-bearing twisted wire being doubled on itself and the two free end portions thereof being positioned side by side in contact with each other and inserted into said body from one end thereof to points short of the other end thereof,

said inserted portionsof said pull member being 5 6 Wire which projects from sd stopper body being formable into a loop in which the ber ma- UNITED STATES PATENTS teral provides a, cushion whereby the loop may Number Name Date be comfortably engaged with a; finger for the pur- 377,805 Stillwell Jan. 28, 1908 pose of pulling the stopper out of the mouth of a ,-3 1,028,907 Russell June 11, 1912 bottle. 1,093,288 Newsom Apr. 14, 1914 JOHN OETEDAHL. 1,100,580 KIluSOIl June 16, 1914 1,278,112 Currey Sept. 10, 1918 REFERENCES CITED 1,324,485 Watt Dec. 9, 1919 The following references are of record in the 10 le of this patent: 

